Ch24 - Tyrant

After the photoshoot ended, Gu Qingchi went to back holing up at home.

Other than clocking in at the company and attending various dance and music classes arranged for him by Ye Li, he mostly stayed at home all day raising his cat. 

Ye Li had a bit of a headache because of the issue of Gu Qingchi’s debut. After realizing Gu Qingchi’s potential was more terrifying than he thought, Ye Li decided not to debut Gu Qingchi as a model.

Debuting him as a model would be fast and easy and there wouldn’t be any issue about his lack of training, but there was still a great deal of difficulty. He would rather wait for a while, let Gu Qingchi practice with the company’s trainees before properly making his debut.

Even though he already had an endorsement and some popularity, Gu Qingchi still had not officially debuted. It could only be said that he had entered the industry.

An official debut wasn’t that simple. For example, if you were to debut as a singer, the standard debut would involve releasing an album. There would also need to be a set of promotional photos to reveal your image to the public. At the same time, there would need to be a press release about either your debut or the new song being released. 

Before doing that, posting works online or participating in competitions would not be considered an official debut.

It wouldn’t be difficult for Gu Qingchi to debut.

Many, many artists made their debut every year, and not all of them were talented. So long as their skills weren’t too terrible, they could become somewhat decent after a few years of training.

Plus, in the beginning, they wouldn’t have much in terms of fans. They would just be picking up a role and going through the motions in order to officially debut as an actor and start promoting themselves.

But that wasn’t what Ye Li wanted. He wanted to gather the whole world’s attention. In order to do so, it was best to go down the route of an actor or singer.

Naturally, the works produced couldn’t be just average or mediocre. What he wanted was perfection.

But the thing that was giving Ye Li a headache was that Gu Qingchi was still a trainee. He was learning how to sing and dance from scratch.

His skill level could only be considered average, not too good, not too bad. Naturally, it didn’t meet Ye Li’s requirements. 

Although, he performed unexpectedly well when it came to instruments.

According to the instrumental music instructor, his techniques were very practiced. He had to have had at least seven or eight years of experience, and he probably started learning from an early age.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Gu Qingchi’s family must have been very well-off, at least for a little while.

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But still, neither the violin nor the piano could be used as his debut work…

Ye Li’s mind was full of violins, and he was still thinking about violins when he answered the phone.

“Hello, my name is Violin—cough, no, Ye Li.”

As the person on the other side of the phone started speaking, Ye Li’s eyes gradually lit up. 

“Okay, I see, please thank Director Wang for me.”

An audition with Director Wang—Wang Haisheng was a new and emerging director within these past two years. He quickly carved out his own place in the prosperous film and television industry and was well-received internationally.

He had a very delicate sense for light and shadow, and he was known for his meticulous shots and ability to capture facial expressions.

He was particularly good at close-up shots. All his close-ups were clear and true-to-life. Even the tiniest of freckles on the main character’s face would become crystal clear. 

One of his disaster films had been accurately reviewed by a famous film critic. He had said, “It was so real, it made me sick. You could practically smell the scent of rotting fish through the screen.”

His shots were so crystalline that many actors known for their beauty wouldn’t take on roles for his movies. They were afraid that their appearance wouldn’t be able to hold up under his scrutinizing lens, and their public image would collapse.

But Gu Qingchi didn’t have to worry about this, so Ye Li swiftly agreed.

Thinking about it now, it was highly likely that the character was just serving as a pretty face. No one dared to audition, so they sought out Gu Qingchi to fill in their numbers. 

Ye Li believed that Gu Qingchi’s beauty deserved to be the star of the film. His very being deserved to be appreciated, praised, engraved in the minds of audiences.

Although they didn’t know what role they were auditioning for yet, it required an audition, so it definitely wouldn’t be some nameless side character. At the very least, it would be an important supporting role.

Although they might not be able to get the role, having multiple opportunities was always a good thing.

In today’s era, the entertainment industry was thriving, and the industry had become a lot more regulated. However, film and television were considered the cream of the crop. The film and television industry was gaining momentum all over the world. If Gu Qingchi were to debut, it would be best to debut as an actor 

However, the rise of the film industry meant that the standards for actors rose as well. Nowadays, they weren’t just competing in terms of hard work and effort but through innate talent as well.

A talent like Xie Luyu was a once in century phenomenon. Most of the people in the industry may act for years without anything to show for it.

It wasn’t unheard of for people in the entertainment industry to dip into other fields. People who dabbled in something other than acting were better off. Trying your hand at acting was like subjecting yourself to a public execution.

That’s why Ye Li had never considered having Gu Qingchi debut as an actor. 

Acting wasn’t something that could be learned in a short period of time.

Anyone who carelessly crossed over into acting would end up getting the tongue-lashing of the century on Weibo.

However, if you were invited to audition by name, the situation was different. This meant that the person being invited to audition had the ability to perform that role.

In this case, there wouldn’t be anything to criticize. 

Although Ye Li valued this audition opportunity a lot, he actually didn’t have a lot of hope about getting the role. Even if Gu Qingchi was just there to be a pretty face, he would still need a little bit of acting ability. At the very least, he couldn’t have stage fright or something like that.

However, Ye Li hadn’t considered developing down the path of an actor, so Gu Qingchi didn’t have a single acting class on his schedule. Plus, Gu Qingchi wasn’t a very expressive person to begin with.

He could already imagine what the audition would be like.

Ye Li’s main goal was for Gu Qingchi to show his face in front of a cutting-edge director, familiarize himself with the people and the audition process. 

Even if it was just an empty role for a pretty face, Gu Qingchi was sure to be the most beautiful one. A single glance at him would be enough to stun anyone in place.

***

Xie Luyu’s mood was a little complicated at the moment. The new movie he was going to be acting in hadn’t started filming yet. In fact, they hadn’t even finished casting all of the roles. They were still missing several important supporting roles.

But Pan Xiaocheng sent him over to the film crew anyway. 

Ah, society was too harsh nowadays, too impatient, too vain! What happened to the bond between brothers?

Xie Luyu sighed. He kicked at the ground with his feet, and the rocking chair started to sway back and forth. Then, he lifted his long legs off the ground and let the chair rock slowly, enjoying it immensely.

The assistant kept a calm expression and flipped a page of the itinerary.

“There are auditions for some of the supporting roles. Is Xie ge going to go take a look?” 

“Not going. Why would I do something so bothersome? I’ll just end up being used as a prop. As soon as I show up, Director Wang’s gonna make me act alongside them.”

The assistant didn’t speak, silently counting to three in his heart. As soon as he finished counting, Xie Luyu planted his feet on the ground and stopped the chair from rocking.

“Forget it, let’s go have a look.”

As soon as Xie Luyu said this, he stood up and strode away, leaving gently rocking chair behind him. 

The assistant silently followed him. Although he was always turning up his nose at these things, Xie Luyu actually took acting very seriously.

He said he wouldn’t do it, but he actually cared more than anyone else.

By the time Xie Luyu arrived, Director Wang was already there. He was currently scribbling away in his notebook.

He was different from other directors. Director Wang was very young, about the same age as Xie Luyu. He was still in his twenties, his prime. 

He also looked a bit different from how most people would imagine a director to look like.

He wore a sailor’s cap. A pair of rimless glasses sat on the bridge of his nose. He was different from the handsome, masculine type like Xie Luyu.

Director Wang had a face that seemed cold at first glance. There was an air of abstinence about him.

On the set, he was a tyrant through and through.